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Delilah, thanks for the chance to come on your blog and share one of my favorite things about my new release Heating It Up: A Red Hot Russians Novella. Heating It Up has a unique setting—a remote research station in Antarctica, and while that’s one of my favorite things about the book, as a romance fan, we know that the hero is the sexy icing on the cake.

So it’s with pleasure that I introduce Heating It Up’s hero, Alexei Zaikov, the head of the Amity Bay Antarctica station and my latest Red Hot Russian.

Welcome, Alexei.

Spasibo! That means thank you in Russian.

Alexei, as the head of an Antarctic research station, you have an interesting job. Tell us a little about it.

As station manager, I am a bit like mayor, a bit like sheriff and a bit like a psychologist! It is my job to see that Amity Bay runs smoothly, even though our buildings are old and need repair, and Antarctic climate is like nowhere else on earth. I also must see everyone stays safe and follows the rules, which isn’t as simple as it sounds. Here is where psychologist part comes in. The people who call Amity Bay home come from all over the world. Some had hard lives before they came here—not that living in Antarctica is easy! But our isolation means we have to accept our differences and find ways to get along. People at Amity Bay are like family, and it’s one of the things I love about living on the Ice.

What are some other things?

Living here fulfills a dream I’ve had since I was a boy, and my mother gave me an old globe. I knew someday, I wanted to go to the big white continent at the bottom. I was born and raised in Siberia so cold has never bothered me. I’ve been to the South Pole, climbed Mt. Eurebus, which is an active volcano, and spent time in Dry Valley, an unearthly landscape that resembles Mars. This land is so beautiful and also very strange. There are lakes and a mountain range buried beneath glaciers. There are animals in the waters no one has ever seen. Icebergs that are blue and green, a waterfall that is red. And a lake that never freezes.

Besides the cold weather, what’s hardest about life on the Ice?

While the isolation has brought people here together, it’s hard being so far from people I love. My father is in Russia, my brother Misha and his wife live in America. We stay in touch online, but I don’t get to see them as much as I would like. I would like to find someone to share my life, as Misha has with his Amy. But as station manager, I can’t start something with any of the women who work for me, and women I meet off the Ice, lose interest as soon as they find out I spend most of my time in Antarctica. Those ones it doesn’t bother, usually because they have something to hide, as I learned the hard way.

What would make me happy is if I could find a woman who does not work at Amity Bay, but loves the continent as much as I do. Maybe one day, I will meet someone like that.

Curious about Red Hot Russian Alexei’s chances to find the woman of his dreams in the frozen wilderness of Antarctica? Download Heating It Up: A Red Hot Russians Novella, now at a limited time sale price, and enjoy this excerpt:

He started up the stairs, every sense alert. Who was she? How did she get here? Most of all, why would a woman hide out alone in an empty building during an Antarctic winter?

The second-floor landing opened into a library. In the middle of the room, was a worktable, covered with drawings. Stunned, he picked up a drawing of a luminous green iceberg that looked more like trapped emeralds, than ancient plankton and sea plants which were the real cause. Again, came a startling thought of Quinn’s secretary Nora, with the ethereal green eyes.

From behind, a floorboard creaked.

He spun around; coming face to face with someone he’d never expected to see again. Her once-ruby lips were pale and taut, but there was no mistaking those eyes.

Giveaway

About the Author

Elizabeth Harmon loves to read and write romances with a dash of different.

A graduate of the University of Illinois, she has worked in advertising, community journalism and as a freelance magazine writer. She feels incredibly blessed to have a career that allows her to spend her days imagining “what if?” and a loving family that keeps her grounded in the real world. Her debut novel, Pairing Off is a 2016 RITA Award Finalist.

An adventurous cook, vintage home enthusiast, occasional actress, and entry-level figure skater, Elizabeth makes her home in the Midwest, where life is good, but the sports teams aren’t. She loves to hang out on her front porch, or at her favorite local establishments, enjoy good food and wine, and talk writing with anyone who will listen.